What Is the Difference Between Landscaping & Gardening?

Similarities

• Both landscapers and gardeners may design and tend gardens. Both should have some knowledge of horticulture. They need to know which plants are appropriate to grow in the space they're given, what types of soil, watering and light conditions each one survives in and how big a plant will grow in a season or over a period of years. They need to know what colors go together in a garden, and which plants are fragrant or produce desirable or undesirable growth. Both gardeners and landscapers care for the land.

Functional Differences

• Landscapers look at projects as a whole and design the entire plot, planting and tending to lawns, gardens, shrubs and trees. Gardeners care for the individual gardens of the plot. Gardeners are often people who choose what to grow, plant, and tend to gardens of flowers, vegetables and herbs. They may also know how to propagate plants.

Educational Differences

• A gardener may have no formal education, but should know how to keep the plants alive and thriving. Some gardeners may attain degrees in horticulture. Landscape design architects have to know how to use tools, such as hedge trimmers, lawn mowers, weed whackers and chain saws. They may have to know how to cut a tree down safely and how to trim topiary plants. They also may have to know schematics of design. While a gardener may know subtle differences between plants, such as those in an herb garden, landscapers may only need to know where the herb garden will be placed. Degrees in horticulture and landscape architecture are offered in many trade schools, colleges and universities.

Professional Differences

• Gardeners who have degrees in horticulture may produce plants in green houses, tend private gardens, become floral designers, writers or researchers. Landscape architects may have careers in regional planning commissions, parks, environmental protection agencies and historical restoration. They may also work in private practice keeping up industrial sites, estates and other residential and commercial properties.